VIOLENCE has erupted in the streets of Burma's main city,
Rangoon, after the repressive military regime moved to crush the
country's biggest protest campaign in almost 20 years.

Up to five people, including Buddhist monks, were killed
yesterday and dozens of others injured as the regime 
ignoring international pleas for restraint  ordered security
forces to move against the crowds after days of mass peaceful
protest.

Troops fired shots, beat protesters and released tear gas into
the crowds after protesters defied the military's warnings not to
interfere in the country's politics.

Some witnesses estimated 100,000 people took to the streets
despite fears of a repeat of the ruthless suppression of Burma's
last major uprising, in 1988, when soldiers killed an estimated
3000 people.

"They are marching down the streets, with the monks in the
middle and ordinary people either side. They are shielding them,
forming a human chain," one witness said over almost deafening
roars of anger at security forces.

The UN Security Council convened an emergency meeting as the
first reports emerged of deaths and injuries in Rangoon.

In one of the worst clashes, police baton-charged protesters
near the Shwedagon Pagoda, Burma's holiest shrine. A former
government official was quoted in a Thai newspaper, The
Nation, saying that at least five people had been killed.

And a Burmese official told AFP that three Buddhist monks were
among the dead  dramatically raising the stakes for the
generals in a country where monks are highly revered.

One monk was killed when a gun went off as he tried to wrestle
it away from a soldier, while two others were beaten to death, the
official was quoted saying.

The military rulers moved against the demonstrators yesterday in
defiance of pleas and warnings from around the world.

In New York, the issue gripped the annual UN General Assembly,
where world leaders urged the junta to exercise restraint. French
Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner confirmed the Security Council
would meet about 5am today Melbourne time to consider action.

Earlier, US President George Bush called on other nations to
"help the Burmese people reclaim their freedom" and announced fresh
sanctions against the generals and their supporters. The European
Union said it would "reinforce and strengthen" sanctions against
Burma's rulers if the demonstrations were put down by force.

But the Australian Government said there was little point in
tightening its economic sanctions because it would only hurt
Burma's ordinary citizens.

As word of beatings, shootings and arrests spread, protest
marches continued. Witnesses said thousands of onlookers cheered as
about 1000 monks shrugged off the heavy presence of soldiers and
police and kept marching towards the centre of Rangoon. The crowd
roared approval for the monks and shouted at security forces: "You
are fools! You are fools!"

One march headed towards the lakeside house of pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been held there under house arrest
for most of the past 18 years. As they walked, they urged a crowd
along the streets to remain calm.

Reuters reported that Ms Suu Kyi may have been moved to the
notorious Insein prison on Sunday, a day after she greeted monks in
front of her home. The report could not be confirmed.

Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party released a
statement saying the military regime had committed "the greatest,
irreparable wrong in history" by beating monks.

It was not immediately known if authorities were cracking down
elsewhere late yesterday after the protests became nationwide.

In the western city of Sittwe, about 15,000 monks and other
people marched on Tuesday, and another march was planned for
yesterday. "Anything can happen now," said a Western diplomat in
Rangoon. "There could be a limited crackdown, basically to frighten
the monks and the civilians and to try to break the protest
movement."

Yesterday was the first time authorities had used violence to
break up the recent protests. Analysts believe the junta had held
back for fear that violence against monks would spark a huge
outcry.

Bradley Babson, a retired World Bank official, said: "This is a
test of wills between the only two institutions in the country that
have enough power to mobilise nationally. Between those two
institutions, one of them will crack. If they take overt violence
against the monks, they risk igniting the population against
them."

But after warning yesterday that dissent would no longer be
tolerated, authorities ordered a dusk-to-dawn curfew. Barbed wire
was stretched across roads, and troops and police posted at pagodas
and monasteries.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Australia
would not follow the US in tightening sanctions against Burma's
military regime, saying they would be "ineffectual".

"If they did any damage at all, they wouldn't damage the regime,
they would damage the ordinary people," he said.

Speaking from New York, where he is attending the UN, Mr Downer
said maintaining dialogue with China over influencing the Burmese
regime was key to dealing with the crisis. "If anybody has any
potential to influence the situation there it's going to be the
Chinese," he said.